A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge shows that it may be possible to detect dementia nearly 10 years before a patient is diagnosed with it.
This finding has made it possible to screen at-risk patients who are eligible for early treatment to reduce their risk of dementia. Additionally, new treatments may become more widely available in clinical trials.
This study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Researchers used information from the UK Biobank database to look for deficits associated with dementia, such as problem-solving and number recall.
In a statement to Bloomberg, study author Noru Swadiudipong said: “Looking back at the patient’s medical history, we see that some cognitive deficit may have been present years before symptoms became apparent and prompted a diagnosis. It became clear,” he said.
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“The impairment was often subtle, but it spanned many facets of cognition,” Swaddiwudhipon added. “This is a step towards screening those most at risk, such as those over 50, those with high blood pressure and those who do not get enough exercise, so that they can intervene earlier and reduce their risk. is. .”
The database used by the Cambridge researchers also included information on memory, reaction time, grip strength, weight loss, and number of falls. Therefore, researchers were able to determine whether there were signs of dementia based on when the data were first collected, about 5 to 9 years before diagnosis.
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Some of the trends and signs the researchers found were that people who were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease were more likely to fall within 12 months of a full diagnosis.
In addition, patients who developed this disease had problems with problem-solving, reaction time, forward memory, and pair-matching. For all conditions analyzed by scientists, worsening health conditions were consistently reported, sometimes years before diagnosis.
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